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THE UNMENTIONABLE

 

comedy, miniDV/S-VHS, 13mins, 2003 directed by Donal Foreman and Danny McMahon written, produced and starring Barry Oglesby, Jonathan Carly, Peter Bregazzi, Ben Haugh and Danny McMahon winner of the First Prize and the Audience Award at the Fresh Film Festival 2003 For an account of the making of this film, click here. "The Unmentionable (Donal Foreman/Danny McMahon, Dog Day Films) was in a class apart. It deservedly took both First and Audience Prizes. The film managed to squeeze the blackest comedy out of a horrible premise. A gang of guys know what their pal doesn't: he's lost his girlfriend in a car crash. But it's his birthday so, hell, let's have a party anyway. Just don't mention... you know. Featuring defecation, vomiting, binge-drinking, violence, on- and off-screen death and saturated with what people used to call 'language', this was hilarious and daring filmmaking. It didn't do what it was told, and it successfully pushed out the boundaries of what anybody would consider acceptable or funny. The fact that the young audience so totally identified with it (female almost more than male) was also telling. The performances were perfect (the cast have been working together for years as an independent group), and pacing, camerawork and use of locations were all excellent. According to the makers, they couldn't agree on a scenario down to the last week before the submission date for Fresh. They finally hammered the script out in a flash, shot it in four days, and edited it in three, VCR to VCR! The last fact went unnoticed because the piece was in every way so accomplished. "[The Unmentionable could] stand with the very best short cinema this country has produced in recent years." —Tony Keily, "The Birth of Cool", Film Ireland 93, July/August 2003 Screenings: Lights Out! Film Festival, IFI, July 2008 Fresh Film Festival Showcase, IFI, 2008 "I:D" TV programme, RTE2, 15 March 2004 (clip) "First Cut" Showcase, Irish Film Institute, 2004 Fresh Film Festival Showcase, IFI, November 2003 Galway Film Fleadh 2003 Fresh Film Festival, 2003, Limerick